March 8, 2022 - The Thunder Bay District Health Unit is encouraging parents and students grades 7 to 12 to take advantage of upcoming opportunities to catch up on routine immunizations that may have been missed due to the pandemic.
To maximize access to these routine immunizations, TBDHU is offering appointments daily at the CLE Coliseum clinic in Thunder Bay. Appointments are available during and after school hours and throughout the upcoming March Break. In addition, TBDHU is offering school based routine immunization clinics over the coming months in collaboration with elementary and high schools.
Parents/caregivers can call TBDHU at 625-5900 to set up an appointment for the Coliseum clinic and to get information on the vaccines their child(ren) may be missing. Clinics are by appointment only. For school based clinics, TBDHU sends out information and consent forms to parents/caregivers approximately one month in advance of the school clinic.
"These recommended and routine vaccines provide protection against a number of serious diseases including hepatitis, meningitis and some cancers", says Dr. Janet DeMille, Medical Officer of Health of TBDHU, "we are very committed to ensuring that all youth have an opportunity to get caught up as soon as possible on these vaccinations and have set up different options to accommodate family’s busy schedules.
Vaccines typically given to students in grade 7 and 8 or in high school include Hepatitis B vaccine, meningococcal vaccine ("meningitis vaccine"), HPV vaccine (Human Papillomavirus) and booster for tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis (Tdap vaccine). Individuals outside of high school remain eligible to receive their tetanus (Tdap) booster. The HPV vaccine is also available to female students who finished high school in 2020 or 2021 and who may have missed doses of this vaccine.
As part of regular programming, TBDHU normally reviews student immunization records yearly and delivers school based clinics to ensure that all students have access to all these recommended vaccines. This work was significantly disrupted in the past three school years due to the pandemic and school closures.
Parents/caregivers can access their child’s vaccination record for vaccines that have been reported to or administered by TBDHU. Parents/caregivers of students who have received vaccines from their health care provider that are not in their record should report them to TBDHU to ensure the immunization record is up to date. Both reviewing and reporting can be done through ICON (Immunization Connect Ontario), a secure online system available at TBDHU.COM/immunizations. Families without an ICON account should call a nurse at 625-5900 for assistance. Vaccines can also be reported by phone at 625-5900.
In the District communities, school-based clinics will be offered in each community in the coming months in both senior elementary (Grades 7 and 8) and high schools. First doses of routine vaccines for Grade 7 and 8 students in the District communities were provided in fall 2021; therefore, many students from this group are not currently behind in the vaccine schedule.
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For more information - Health Unit Media: news@tbdhu.com